Mizzou will look to extend its home court winning streak to seven games when it faces Louisiana Monroe for the first time in school history on Jan. 2 ... The first game following the New Year has been good to Quin Snyder and the Tigers ... Missouri has racked up a 5-1 record following the annual celebration, which includes an active run of five consecutive victories ... Mizzou's lone defeat following New Years was a 51-46 setback to Winthrop on Jan. 4, 2000 ... Missouri's six consecutive home victories are the most in the brief two-year history of Mizzou Arena and the most for Tigers overall since they won six consecutive from Jan. 24, 2004, to Feb. 24, 2004 ... The last time Missouri won seven straight at home was during the 2002-03 season and two games into the 2003-04 campaign, when the club won 16 straight overall, thanks to a perfect 14-0 home ledger in 2002-03 ... While Missouri will be playing its third game in six days, Louisiana Monroe is coming off a remarkable 13-day layoff ... The Indians last game was Dec. 20 at South Alabama where they fell by an 83-64 margin ... Mizzou is coming off a solid showing against Oakland, where it shot a season-best 54.9 percent from the floor to earn a 74-58 win ... Kevin Young's second double-double of the season helped pace four Tigers in double figures ... Thomas Gardner led the squad with 19 points and a career high seven assists ... "Roc" McKinney added 14 points and four boards, while Marshall Brown chipped in 14 tallies and six rebounds ... One downer for Missouri was the 16 turnovers (10 in the opening period), but just four of those miscues were charged to the starting five and Mizzou finished the game's final 11:30 without turnover, resulting in a 27-12 game-clinching surge ... Missouri led by just one, 47-46, at the time of its final turnover.
Tiger Trends (Team Quick-Hitters)
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Monday's game vs. Louisiana Monroe will be the 207th of Quin Snyder's career ... Only three coaches, George Edwards (353), Wilbur Stalcup (374) and Norm Stewart (967) have coached more games on the Mizzou sideline than Snyder.
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Mizzou has made at least one three-point field goal in every game under Quin Snyder (206 games) ... The Tigers have made multiple treys in 204 of those 206 games, including double-figure triples (10+) 56 times.
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Mizzou continues to be an improved second-half club, outscoring its opposition by an average of 41.2-to-36.1 (412-to-361) over the final 20 minutes ... The Tigers have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in the second half of four of those games, including 56.0 percent (14-of-25) in the 72-63 home win over Furman.
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The Tigers are one of the Big 12's top offensive rebounding clubs ... Mizzou ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 14.6 offensive caroms and have out-rebounded its foes on the offensive glass in four of its last five games.
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The Tigers continue to excel at getting to the free throw line ... Mizzou has shot 225 free throws compared to the 169 by its opponents, but have scored just 18 more points at the charity stripe due to its 62.2 percent shooting as a club.
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The Tigers have been better from the foul line over the last two games and are shooting 70.0 percent (35-of-50) during that stretch ... The key players in that improvement over the last two games have been Thomas Gardner (13-of-14, .929) and Marshall Brown (13-of-18, .722).
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Despite 10 first half turnovers against Oakland, Mizzou continues to show improvement with its ball security ... The Tigers turned the ball over just 12 times vs. Eastern Illinois and have 14 or fewer miscues in four of the last six games.
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Missouri is 6-0 when outrebounding its opponents and have won the battle of the boards in four of its last five games ... The lone exception was a minus-five effort on the glass vs. Illinois (41-36).
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Mizzou's defensive effort against UMKC had numerous record book implications ... The 42 points scored by the Kangaroos were the fewest by an MU opponent since a 45-42 win over DePaul on Nov. 24, 1997, in the opening round of the Maui Invitational ... UMKC's 15 first-half points were the fewest in the two-year history of Mizzou Arena ... The 15 total field goals by the Kangaroos were also the fewest in the history of the building and was the lowest total by Tiger opposition since Arkansas-Pine Bluff netted just 11 buckets on Dec. 9, 1998.
Tigers Tidbits (Player Quick-Hitters)
l Kevin Young continues to be one of the Big 12's top rebounders ... Young is producing career numbers with 8.4 points and 8.5 boards and is tied for second in the league with his 8.5 caroms per game ... The Kingston, Jamaica, native also leads the Big 12 with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game.
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Young has provided a consistent scoring presence as well and has topped double figures in points three times in 10 games... Entering the year, Young had just one career double figure scoring effort and narrowly missed his fourth with nine points vs. Furman.
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Young also enjoyed a career high 14 rebounds (eight offensive) vs. Oakland, which translated into his second career double-double ... The senior now ranks fifth in the Big 12 with two double-doubles this season.
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In addition to his rebounding, the 6-foot-9, 270-pounder is on a career-best shot-blocking pace ... Young leads the club and ranks 10th in the Big 12 with 10 swats this season.
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Marshall Brown has reached double figures in scoring five times this season, including a current run of back-to-back efforts vs. Eastern Illinois (19) and Oakland (14) ... Brown opened his sophomore season with a career high 20 points against Sam Houston State and nearly duplicated that feat against Eastern Illinois when he scored 19 points thanks to 9-of-13 shooting from the foul line.
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Brown finished the EIU contest with 11-rebounds, which resulted in his first career double-double.
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Over the last three games Brown has averaged 8.7 rebounds, which is tied for the team lead with Kevin Young.
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Thomas Gardner has reached double figures in points in 13 of his last 14 games ... Gardner has led the Tigers in scoring eight times (out of 10 games) this season and 15 times over his career.
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The Big 12's scoring leader (20.1), Gardner also leads the Big 12 with a pair of 30-point contests, including a 30-point night at Davidson on Dec. 7 ... Gardner hit eight treys vs. the Wildcats, the fourth-highest single-game total in the NCAA's this year and the third highest single-game total in school history ... He has now made at least one three-pointer in 17 consecutive games, the longest three-point streak of his tenure.
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Gardner leads the Big 12 with 3.3 three-point field goals per game, while his three-point percentage of 43.4 ranks fifth.
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If there had been one area of emphasis for Gardner it was his free throw shooting, but the 6-foot-5 junior hit a career-best 10-of-10 vs. Eastern Illinois and has now made 13-of-14 "freebees" over his last two games.
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Gardner's 12 rebounds vs. UMKC tied a career high ... His 17-point, 12-rebound double-double was also the second of his career ... His first was a 19-point, 12-board effort against Brown in the 2004-05 season-opener.
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Jason Horton continues to be one of the Big 12's top assist-men ... Horton is averaging 4.44 dimes a game and has a 1.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
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The Dallas native is among the League's top thieves as well, ranking fifth with 2.2 steals per game including a career high five vs. Furman.
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Horton has also provided a much-needed scoring boost over his last three games and is 5-of-9 (.556) from "3" during that stretch.
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Also, has there been a more improved perimeter defender in the Big 12 than Horton thus far? The sophomore held UMKC's Quinton Day (Southern Cal transfer) 20.5 points below his season average of 27.5 points in Mizzou's 60-42 win on Nov. 29 and held Arkansas point guards Eric Ferguson (1-of-5), Dontell Jefferson (1-of-1) and Sean McCurdy (0-of-0) to a combined 2-of-6 shooting and six total points ... In addition to his five steals vs. Furman, Horton held point guard Tony Carter to two points on 0-of-4 shooting and played a key role in holding Oakland's Calvin Wooten (22.8 ppg.) to just nine points on 3-of-14 shooting.
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Freshman Matt Lawrence has been impressive from three-point range this season ... The St. Louis native is 4-of-10 from bonus distance, including a 2-of-2 effort in front of 17,427 screaming fans at Arkansas en route of a career high six points ... Lawrence made his first career trey vs. UMKC and added a fourth at Davidson.
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It's not just shooting where the 6-foot-7 freshman has been near flawless ... Lawrence has added 10 boards (five offensive) and ranks fourth on the squad with five steals in 8.2 minutes per game.
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Senior Jimmy McKinney is finding his consistency offensively over the past six games and is averaging 13.0 points per game during that stretch ... McKinney opened the run with 16 points at Davidson, before scoring a season high 19 vs. Texas A&M-CC on a career best 12-of-14 foul shooting ... Most recently the St. Louis native scored 14 points against Oakland.
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While the Tigers have struggled from the line as a team, McKinney sure hasn't ... The senior ranks third in the Big 12 in free throw shooting at 80.0 percent (32-of-40).
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Nicknamed "Rock" by his teammates, the former Vashon High School standout missed his first game as a Tiger because of a fractured frontal sinus, but has been a "Rock" for Mizzou ever since, failing to miss a game.
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McKinney's hit his 100th career three-pointer vs. Texas A&M-CC ... Only 15 Tigers have more than 100 career triples, including teammate Gardner (118).
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Junior forward Marcus Watkins has made back-to-back starts vs. Eastern Illinois and Oakland ... His appearance in the "starting five" vs. EIU was the first of his career at the collegiate level.
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Freshman Leo Lyons narrowly missed his first career double-double after recording career highs of eight points and eight boards vs. Furman on Sunday ... Lyons also added a career high two blocked shots.
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Sophomore center Kalen Grimes enjoyed his best game of the year vs. Illinois in his hometown return to St. Louis ... The 6-foot-9 center grabbed a career high seven boards vs. the Illini and scored a season-high five points on 2-of-3 shooting.
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Grimes also recorded the first assist of his career vs. Eastern Illinois on a pitch-back to Thomas Gardner at the 17:00 mark of the second half ... Prior to the assist, Grimes had played 386 career minutes without a "dime".
Getting To Know Today's Foe Louisiana Monroe enters this evening's contest 4-7 on the season following back-to-back losses (home-and-home series) to South Alabama on Dec. 14 and Dec. 20 ... The Indians will be playing their first game since that Dec. 20 defeat at South Alabama, which means the team is coming off a 13-day layoff ... ULM boasts a balanced scoring unit and has eight players averaging better than 5.0 points per game on the year ... Senior guard Cecil Hood leads the club with 12.9 points per game ... Hood played at Schoolcraft Community College in Michigan, the same two-year institution that produced Tiger junior James Douglas ... Adrian Harper joins Hood in double figures with 10.2 points and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game ... Tonight's game will mark ULM's second against a Big 12 institution this season ... The Indians traveled to Austin, Texas, on Nov. 26 and fell to the Texas Longhorns 80-55 ... While this is the first match-up between Missouri and Louisiana Monroe, ULM head coach Orlando Early has faced Missouri twice during his coaching tenure ... Early was the associate head coach at Western Carolina during the 1997-98 season when the Tigers toppled the Catamounts 85-64 on Nov. 16, 1997 ... He was then an assistant coach at Alabama during Mizzou's 75-68 win over the Crimson Tide in the Guardians Classic on Nov. 20, 2001.
Mizzou vs. The Southland Conference
Missouri enters tonight's game 9-2 all-time vs. the Southland Conference including a 1-1 record vs. the League this season ... Missouri dropped an 80-77 decision to Sam Houston State in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 14, but rebounded nicely to defeat a talented Northwestern State club on Nov. 20 by an 81-72 margin ... Northwestern State is the preseason favorite in the league and has enjoyed key wins at Oklahoma State, at Mississippi State, vs. Oregon State ... This will be Mizzou's first-ever meeting with Louisiana Monroe ... Below is a breakdown of Mizzou vs. the Southland Conference:
Opponent Mizzou's Record Lamar 2-1 Louisiana Monroe 0-0 McNeese State 0-0 Nicholls State 1-0 Northwestern State 1-0 Sam Houston State 1-1 SE Louisiana 0-0 S.F. Austin 0-0 Texas State 3-0 Texas-Arlington 0-0 Texas-San Antonio 1-0
There's No Place Like Home Mizzou has dominated the home court in Quin Snyder's seven seasons and the Tigers' 6-1 home record this year has reinforced that fact ... Snyder has helped Mizzou build a 79-18 (.814) home court mark in his seven seasons, including an 20-5 ledger since the team moved into Mizzou Arena at the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
Year Record Pct. 2005-06 6-1 .857 2004-05 14-4 .778 2003-04 10-4 .714 2002-03 14-0 1.000 2001-02 12-3 .800 2000-01 13-1 .929 1999-00 10-5 .667 Total 79-18 .814
The Jamacian Sensation Simply put, Kevin Young is having a sensational senior season and is averaging career high numbers in points (8.4 ppg.), rebounds (8.5 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg.) through 10 games.
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Entering his final campaign, Young had just one career double figure scoring effort, but has already accomplished the feat three times in 10 games thanks to a career high 17 points vs. Northwestern State, 13 at Arkansas and 12 vs. Oakland.
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Young had never recorded a double-double, but now has two in 2005-06, following his 17 points (career high) and 13 rebounds vs. Northwestern State and 12 points and 14 boards (career high) vs. Oakland.
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The Kingston, Jamacia, native now ranks fifth in the Big 12 with those two double-doubles and his 14 boards vs. Oakland are the fifth most in the league this season.
Better Late Than Never ... Gardner Delivers With six of 10 games decided by nine points or less, Missouri has had a "crunch time" in nearly every outing this season and the Big 12's leading scorer, Thomas Gardner, has stepped up to the challenge ... Gardner is averaging 8.2 of his league-leading 20.1 points in the final 13:09 of Missouri's 10 games and has scored 10+ points on five occasions during that span
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Gardner's best late-game effort came against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when he poured in 17 of his career-high tying 30 points in the game's final 11:27 to lead Mizzou to the come-from-behind win.
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The Portland, Ore., native also added 14 points in the final 11:54 at Davidson and scored 10 points down the stretch vs. Sam Houston State, Northwestern State and Eastern Illinois.
Three Tigers Double Their Pleasure With his 19-point, 11-rebound double-double vs. Eastern Illinois on Dec. 28, Marshall Brown became the third Tiger to record a point-rebound double-double this season ... Brown joined Kevin Young (17 points, 13 rebounds vs. Northwestern State / 12 points, 14 rebounds vs. Oakland) and Thomas Gardner (17 points, 12 rebounds vs. UMKC) in accomplishing the feat and Missouri now ranks second among Big 12 schools with three players recording at least one double-double ... Texas leads the Big 12 with four players registering at least one double-dip, while Missouri, Iowa State, Nebraska and Oklahoma State each have three.
What Can Brown Do For You? Marshall Brown has been answering that question in a variety of ways recently, but perhaps his biggest contributions have been made on the glass, where the 6-foot-6 forward is averaging a team-best 7.0 rebounds over the last six contests, including a team-high tying 8.7 boards over his last three.
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Brown initiated his recent rebounding surge with a career high nine caroms against Illinois in St. Louis, before notching a career-best 11 boards in the win over Eastern Illinois ... Brown chipped in 19 points vs. the Panthers, resulting in the first double-double of his career and followed that with 14 points and six boards vs. Oakland.
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Coaches and teammates call Brown "The Warrior" for his hard-nosed style of play on the court and the Austin, Texas, native lived up to the monicker even before this rebounding frenzy.
l Brown scored a career high 20-points in the season-opener vs. Sam Houston State and currently ranks second on the club with 22 offensive rebounds, which he has turned into 12 put-back buckets.
l Third on the team in scoring (10.6), Brown hit a career high 7-of-10 shots vs. Sam Houston State en route to that career high 20-point night ... The Austin, Texas, native also grabbed four boards and ripped away a then-career-high tying three steals in a career best 36 minutes.
l Brown returned to double figures in the win over UMKC, scoring 12 points, eight of which came via offensive put-backs thanks to a career high six offensive rebounds.
